Fused alumina-zirconia abrasives



United States Patent 3,131,939 FUSED ALUMDdA-ZTRCUNIA ABRASIVES Douglas W. Marshall, Niagara Falls, (intario, and Steven J. lRoschulr, Fonthill, Ontario, Canada, assiguors to Norton Company, Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts No Drawing. Filed Jan. 27, 1961, Ser. No. 85,201

4 Claims. (Cl. 51-309) This invention relates to electric furnace products. More particularly, this invention relates to abrasive materials of high strength.

Alpha-alumina, in the form known and referred to as fused alumina, has been used extensively as an abrasive material for many years. The reason for this extensive use is that alpha-alumina combines the properties of strength and hardness in such a way as to make it suitable for use in many different abrasive applications. The hardness of alpha-alumina is 9 on the Mohs scale of hardness and the chemical formula is A1 0 It has a density of 3.99 grams per cubic centimeter, is crystallized -in the rhombohedral system and has a melting point of 2035 C. However fused alumina, partly because of its high purity, exhibits a degree .of brittleness which deters from its complete acceptability as a snagging abrasive.

Zirconia, represented chemically by the formula ZrO is not as hard as alpha-alumina, having a value of 6.5 on the Mohs scale. Zirconia has a density of 5.56 grams per cubic centimeter and a melting point of 2690 C. However, Zirconia is extremely durable and has been suggested for use in specific products where durability or wear resistance is especially desired. However, because of its relative abrasive softness, Zirconia by itself is also unacceptable for processes which require strength and hardness.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an abrasive of high strength and hardness.

It is another object of this invention to provide such an abrasive also having a high degree of durability and wear resistance.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an abrasive material of high impact strength suitable for use in snagging operations.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a snagging abrasive that exhibits decreased wheel wear and increased material removal over snagging abrasives presently known.

Still further objects and the entire scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter; it should be understood however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

It has been found that these objects may be attained by combining the desirable properties of fused alphaalumina and Zirconia. In this manner, an abrasive material is produced which combines the strength and hardness of alumina with the durability and wear resistance of Zirconia and it has been found that this abrasive is especially suitable for snagging operations.

More particularly, it has been found that high purity alpha-alumina may be mixed with Zirconia, also of high purity, in the proportions indicated hereinafter. The mixture is fused to a molten state in, for example, an arc tapping furnace and the fused product is quickly cooled. This rapid quenching may be achieved by pouring the product into an ingot mold, preferably of cast iron. The cooled cast product may then be crushed into grits suitable for making abrasive wheels.

3,lhl,%9 Patented l t lay 4, 19 65 ice A study of fused combinations of alumina and Zirconia revealed that those having between about alumina- 10% Zirconia and 40% alumina-60% Zirconia are products which can be crushed into grits with extremely high impact strength and which are particularly outstanding as a snagging abrasive. The use of Zirconia within this range results in an abrasive product having much greater impact strength and durability than fused aluminous abrasives now in use. The maximum improvement in impact strength is obtained with an amount of from about 15 to 30% Zirconia in the product. Impact strengths somewhat lower are obtained with ranges of from 10 to 15% and 30 to 60% Zirconia contents but these products are still considerably stronger than those of fused alphaalumina.

Depending upon the relative proportions of alumina and Zirconia, any composition thereof will be made up of one of the following:

(1) Zirconia crystals together with the low melting Zirconia-alumina eutectic.

(2) The Zirconia-alumina eutectic alone.

(3) Alumina crystals together with the low melting Zirconia-alumina eutectic.

The Zirconia-alumina eutectic, believed to be close to the theoretical 45% by weight level of Zirconia, or about 40 mol percent thereof, consists of a uniform dispersion of extremely small Zirconia particles in a matrix of alumina. The microstructure of the eutectic itself shows very little variation under widely varying cooling conditions, and Whether or not a small or large excess of alumina or Zirconia is present in the composition. The crystallinity of the excess alumina or Zirconia, however, can be strongly affected by the rate of cooling. When the melt is cooled slowly the crystals of alumina or Zirconia may grow to a considerable size, resulting in a segregation of the lower melting eutectic and a non uniform texture in the product.

Rapid quenching of melts containing an excess of alumina or Zirconia over the eutectic composition results in very fine crystallization of the alumina or Zirconia, the crystals generally being smaller than 300 microns.

These crystals are generally separated from each other (or cemented together) by areas of the naturally fine eutectic. The overall microstructure is characterized by its uniformity and fine crystallinity. This leads to greatly improved strength in the abrasive grain produced from such product.

Alpha-alumina which may be successfully utilized in the process of this invention is preferably of high purity, usually at least 99.8% by weight A1 0 and containing less than 0.1% sodium oxide. Another form of alumina which may be used is of a slightly lesser degree of purity and may contain up to as much as 0.4% sodium oxide. In this instance, about 0.5% carbon is included in the mix for the purpose of reducing the sodium oxide to less than 0.1% during the fusing procedure. The purity of zirconia is preferably at least about 99% ZrO As pointed out above, the fused mixture may be rapidly cooled by pouring into cast iron ingot molds. Attempts to duplicate the product by fusing the same mixture in other types of arc furnaces yielded products of lower grain strength. These experiments demonstrated that the high strengths obtained with these mixtures when poured into relatively small cast iron ingot molds are not obtained when the fused alumina-Zirconia is cooled more slowly, for example, within the furnace. The following is a demonstration of difierences in strengths obtained from rapidly quenched cast products and furnace cooled products, both of which were crushed into grits of a size to pass through 12 on 14 mesh.

3 '4 Table I 24 on 28 mesh grit grain. The results are tabulated below, the proportion of single crystals in the 24 grit size P t Kvalues particles being indicated as percent Mono:

(.I'CBH Zro: Cast Furnace 5 Crystal type Crystal size Percent cooled (microns) mono 21.28 .127 25lb. ingot Dendritic 50-150 4 20. 28 1. 30 300 lb. ingot do 150 300 163 1&5 1,000 lb. furnace cooled do 300-400 63:45 ".iii 10 61-69 As pointed out above, the theory is that the alumina crystals are cemented together by the alumina-zirconia eutectic. In Example 1 in the case of the most rapid fi g g gz zi f g gi gj g ii giy ig gi ig quenching (with the pound ingot} the resultant alumina t g being small r a Strong grain and large for a 15 crystals are very small, hencefacilitating more complete k gljain' cylegiznlting zl ctgoigittllayt 1tlhe eutectic. 0A; the algmisngocrystlalg The principal physical difierence between the slowly 2: 8 in E 3 gxg g f g hg Fooled and that rapidly (.luenfzhed by casting into ac tion is not as complete and hence a weaker grain is giggf ggg i s gz igi i g i ig p of average 0 produced. This point is clearly illustrated by the impact ger m the futnace test results included in Table I. cooled p i than those 1n cast Product AS PPmted In addition, further work in the 1000 pound arc tapabove It Is t crystzfll $126 of the excgss alumma or ping furnace has disclosed that as the percent concent t Whlch. 18 of ft Smce the g tration of zirconia in the product increases to approach tzgsconia eutectic essentia y crysta izes as very ne crys- 25 eutecfic cqmpositionwo PFrcent or In this invention the effect of zirconia on the primary if Zlrcoma) the SIZE of tha mgot cast 15 not alpha-alumina phase of the product is not as important as cn lea T bl H its influence on the product as a whole. One of the most a e apparent effects that results from the addition of zirconia is the decrease in porosity of the product which is brought Type K Values about by the presence of the low-melting eutectic which is trapped among the rapidly growing alumina crystals. 20% 30% 40% Assuming that the eutectic contains the theoretical 40 mol percent Zirconia, it may be calculated for every 1% by weight zirconia added, 2.2% by Weight eutectic is formed. 3001b. in IIII I 135 I 58 96 A relatively small amount of zirconia is suflicient to produce enough eutectic to completely fill the inter-granular As seen in the above table, the product containing voids to give a product essentially free from macropores. irconia in the 300 pound ingot has a grain strength more Th6 resultant Product, Consisting of fine alumina crystals 40 nearly comparable to those of the products from the 25 cemented together by the eutectic, yields a durable abrasive Pound and 50 pound i A150, as the percent Zirconia free of p y- The addition of Zircohia t0 alumina in increases above the 44.6% eutectic composition, the grain the range of 10 to 60% and casting of the Product into strength again decreases. This, however, does not apply ingot molds leads to Prodllhts of high grain Strength to the furnace cooled product where the grain strength r 1 P tKlvalue and reduced Wh el W ar properties remains very poor regardless of the product composition. 1 8 ac ha gflh In addition to the hi h ain stren th exhibited b roof following ifi p fil l lfn h tg ttechl'liqhes ducts of this invention, the grits made into grinding vi lh eels mace P We Own In 6 ar are exhibit eatl im roved indin ualities over wheels P Y Although the Particular tedlhique used in P prepared frorri grit? of fuse d alph -a iumina. The follow f f the melt is of no f i P far as this inven ing tables illustrate the impact strength and grinding 22:;airs;aafzriztisiz iazi2225323 21; e of prepared from fused alumina-zirconia compositions as US. Patent 2,426,643 to Ridgway. A detailed descripd th df f d 1 h 1 tion of the conventional operation of the batch arc furnace compare WI 056 preliare mm a p a a i In these tables, the ultimate superiority of the various (Higgins furnace) 18 found in an article entitled The Manufacture of Abrasives by John A. U p per n the wheels is indicated by the BB. grinding quality. These Journal of Chemical Education, December 1949, Number values are related to Wheel W (WW) and mammal 12, pages 676 to 680. Insofar as the present invention is moved (Mr) m the followmg manner: concerned, all that is necessary in the furnace is to pro- B B 0 duce a fusion of the specified ingredients. gnndmg qua 1ty% EXAMPLE 1 A premium product would exhibit high material removal A mixture of 800 pounds alpha-alumina containing i whe-el Wear-pr9peme-s hence a hlgh 99.8% A1 0 and 200 pounds of zirconia containing gnndltlg quahty' While mihcated abwe h 99+% ZrO was prepared and fused to a molten state in a 5 mum Impact ,strength 18 oPtamed m Products havlflg from 1000 pound arc tapping furnace The fused product was 15 to 30% zirconia IhGTBIIL results in the follow ng tests immediately Poured into a numb6r of molds holding 25 llustrated thatproducts having about 50% Zirconia therepounds and 300 pounds of the mixture. Another batch 1n have the hlghesf gnndmg f q therefore was prepared d f d i a 1000 pound nomtapping exhibit overall grinding characteristics superior to all furnace and after fusion, the product was conventionally 7 other Products testscooled within the furnace. Each of the products from The fused alumina Control Wheels used in the tests the molds and from the furnace was crushed into grits wfil'e P p from heat treated and mulled grain sized to pass through a 24 mesh on 28 mesh and analyzed prising 95% alpha-alumina. This is the highest strength for the crystal type present, the average crystal size and the fused aluminous abrasive produced by the Norton Comproportion of single crystals in a sample of the through pany of Worcester, Massachusetts. In the first test,

bonded wheels were prepared having a size of 16 x 2 x 1 inch. The workpiece was of stainless steel and measured 18 x 8 inches. Two -minute runs per wheel were conducted under a grinding pressure of 400 pounds and a speed of 9500 surface feet per minute. The results of this test are indicated in Table IH.

In the final test, wheels were prepared having a size of 16 x 2 x 6 inches. Two 15-minute runs per wheel were conducted on a 16 inch remote-controlled swingframe grinder. The grinding speed was 9500 surface feet per minute under 400 pounds pressure on a stainless steel surface measuring 6 X 24 1ncl1es.

Table V Wheel Material B.B. Total Product WCF FW Wear, removed, grinding gross Ww Mr quality power, KW

Fused aluminous abrasive (95% alpha-alumina) g2 fig lg'g Aluminaazireonia ZrOz). lb. ingot g: Alumina-zirconia (50% ZrOz), 251bingot g:

WCF=Weight per cubic foot (pounds). FW=Fired weight of finished wheel (pounds). Ww =Cubic inches per hour.

Mr=Pounds per hour.

1 Mulled to a density of 130 lb./cu.ft.

2 Grinding test performed on unmulled grain.

Ww =cubic inches per hour.

Mr=pounds per hour.

In the second series of tests, bonded wheels were prepared having a size of 8 X x 1 inch. The test consisted of a -minute grinding time per wheel on an 8 inch swing-frame grinder. Grinding speed was 9500 surface feet per minute with 85 pounds pressure on a stainless steel surface measuring 6 x 12 inches. Wheel wear was measured after each 30-minute period and material removal was measured after each 15-minute period. The results of these tests are given in Table IV wherein values are given for two separate grinding runs together with the average value for each product.

What is claimed is:

1. A fused abrasive material consisting essentially of a mixture of alpha-alumina and zirconia and containing less than 0.1% soda, said zirconia being present in an amount from about 10 to by Weight of said mixture, said mixture consisting of portions (a) and (b), portion (a) of said abrasive material being an aluminazirconia eutectic and portion ([2) being crystals of a member selected from the group consisting of alpha-alumina and zirconia, said crystals having an average size not greater than 300 microns, said abrasive material having a high impact strength whereby it is suitable for snagging stainless steel.

2. The abrasive material according to claim 1 wherein the average size of said crystals is between 50 and 150 microns,

3. The abrasive material according to claim 1 wherein the material is an alumina-zirconia eutectic having alphaalumina crystals therein.

4. The abrasive material according to claim 1 whereing the material is an alumina-zirconia eutectic having zirconia crystals therein.

(References on following page) Table IV Wheel Material B.B. Total Product K value, 12 on 14 grit wear, removed, grinding gross Ww Mr quality power, KW

Fused aluminous abrasive alpha-alumina) (Mulled) 6. 4 13. 8 30 4. 46 6. 7 14.7 32 4.88

Aluminazirconia (2.03% Zl'Oz) 0.372 (unmulled) 12.4 12. 6 13 4. 58 13. 0 13.8 15 4. 64

Aluminarzireonia (15.16% ZrO 0.168 (unmulled) 4. 4 10. 4 25 3. 98 3. 8 9. 2 22 3. 74

Alumina-zirconia (51.86% ZlOz) 0.167 (unmulled) 4.1 14. 0 48 4. 58 3. 9 12. 4 39 4. 56

Alumina-zirconia (86.48% ZXOz) 0.401 (unmulled) 12.3 9. 6 7 5 4.12 11.4 8.9 7 0 4. 26

Ww=cubic inches per hour. Mr=pounds per hour.

7 8 References Cited by the Examiner 2,919,994 1/ 60 Stimke 106.65 3 025 175 3/62 Aldred 10657 P NT I UNITED STATES ATE S 3,079,452 2/63 Chopln 106-57 9/17 Saunders et 51-4091 3,106,452 10/63 Watson et a1. 23-142 11/56 Polch 51298 5 7/ 58 schlotlhauef et aL ALEXANDER H. BRODMERKEL, Primgry Examiner. 3/59 Smith 51308 7 9 59 Sandmeyer 10 -57 JOSEPH REBOLD, LESLIE H. GASTON, MORRIS 4/60 Harris et a1. 51-609 LIEBMAN, Examiners. 

1. A FUSED ABRASIVE MATERIAL CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF A MIXTURE OF ALPHA-ALUMINA AND ZIRCONIA AND CONTAINING LESS THAN 0.1% SODA, SAID ZIRCONIA BEING PRESENT IN AN AMOUNT FROM ABOUT 10 TO 60% BY WEIGHT OF SAID MIXTURE, SAID MIXTURE CONSISTING OF PORTIONS (A) AND (B), PORTION (A) OF SAID ABRASIVE MATERIAL BEING AN ALUMINAZIRCONIA EUTECTIC AND PORTION (B) BEING CRYSTALS OF A MEMBER SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF ALPHA-ALUMINA AND ZIRCONIZ, SAID CRYSTALS HAVING AN AVERAGE SIZE NOT GREATER THAN 300 MICRONS, SAID ABRASIVE MATERIAL HAVING A HIGH IMPACT STRENGTH WHEREBY IT IS SUITABLE FOR SNAGGING STAINLESS STEEL. 